Executive Coaching FAQs

1. How does coaching compare to consulting?

In a consulting relationship, the consultant is assumed to be the expert, the “smartest guy in the room.” The consultant’s role is to solve problems and fix things for the client. In a coaching collaboration, the coach does not have all the answers and is not trying to solve problems for the client. The coach helps the client identify and focus on the issues, clarify them, and move into action. Deepening a client’s learning and moving clients forward in their professional and personal lives are core to the coach’s mission.

2. What are the differences between coaching and therapy?

Executives may undertake either therapy or coaching when they want significant change in their lives, professionally, personally or both. Both routes may lead to lasting positive outcomes. One may even choose to undergo both concurrently. However, there are major differences.

Whereas therapy is a clinical relationship, coaching is a collaboration between the coach and the client for the client’s behalf. The goal of coaching is long-lasting, positive changes in behavior, with added understanding. The goal of therapy is first understanding, hopefully leading to change. Coaching is focused on the present and the future. Therapy is focused on the past, present and to a lesser degree, the future. With coaching, the coach holds the client accountable for homework, requests and challenges given to the client to pull them into their magnificence. In a therapy relationship, there is typically little homework or accountability.

3. How long is a typical coaching engagement?

Coaching engagements vary in length from three months to several years. I require a minimum three-month commitment. The length of the engagement and frequency of the sessions is a matter for discussion between the coach and the client and may be modified at any time.

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What my clients say

“Peter has a remarkable gift in seeing 'the big picture' and helping you unravel the areas of your life in which you are stuck. He is empathetic, compassionate, and deeply insightful. He can help you focus your life on areas that really matter to you, and work with you to attain your goals in a systematic and effective manner. His added perspective is both valuable and visionary – bringing with him a completely fresh understanding of your current situation. His positive outlook helped me through a tough career transitionary phase of my life and his challenges spurred me on to embark on a new venture that I would not previously have had the courage to consider. For that I am truly grateful.”

"Peter is a fantastic executive coach. He has compelling insights into leadership effectiveness, a unique style that blends empathy and independence, and deep experience in professional services. My work with Peter has been a powerful catalyst in helping me set bolder aspirations, build support to achieve them, and follow through with real impact. Working with Peter has been a great investment."

"Peter is a fantastic executive coach. He has compelling insights into leadership effectiveness, a unique style that blends empathy and independence, and deep experience in professional services. My work with Peter has been a powerful catalyst in helping me set bolder aspirations, build support to achieve them, and follow through with real impact. Working with Peter has been a great investment."

http://peterfeer.com/testimonials/president-boutique-strategy/

Vice Chairman, Bulge Bracket Investment Bank, New York, NY

"I absolutely recommend Peter as an executive coach. Originally I was introduced to Peter by my employer, who hired him to fine-tune certain aspects of my communication style. He was extremely effective in this regard. I was so impressed by Peter that subsequently I choose to continue to use him at my own expense in order to help me navigate other professional and even personal matters."

Vice Chairman, Bulge Bracket Investment Bank, New York, NY

2016-03-23T04:02:20+00:00

Vice Chairman, Bulge Bracket Investment Bank, New York, NY

"I absolutely recommend Peter as an executive coach. Originally I was introduced to Peter by my employer, who hired him to fine-tune certain aspects of my communication style. He was extremely effective in this regard. I was so impressed by Peter that subsequently I choose to continue to use him at my own expense in order to help me navigate other professional and even personal matters."

Jim Deters, Co-founder and CEO, Galvanize LLC – Denver, CO

“I worked with Peter for over a year and am pleased to highly recommend him as an executive coach to senior leaders in entrepreneurial organizations. Peter was uniquely helpful in helping me imagine and execute on a vision of my leadership that has been critical to the success of Galvanize in a complex, hyper-growth environment. He is the one guy I can always count on to tell me the naked truth about my leadership, in an impactful, non-judgmental and compassionate way. He has also helped me become a better father and husband. Since beginning work with Peter, we have chosen to hire him for additional engagements within our senior leadership team, with positive results."

“I worked with Peter for over a year and am pleased to highly recommend him as an executive coach to senior leaders in entrepreneurial organizations. Peter was uniquely helpful in helping me imagine and execute on a vision of my leadership that has been critical to the success of Galvanize in a complex, hyper-growth environment. He is the one guy I can always count on to tell me the naked truth about my leadership, in an impactful, non-judgmental and compassionate way. He has also helped me become a better father and husband. Since beginning work with Peter, we have chosen to hire him for additional engagements within our senior leadership team, with positive results."

John Sanderson, Director of Conservation Science The Nature Conservancy, Colorado

“My six months of work with Peter were transformative. I expected to learn tools and techniques for leading my team. I did learn those things, but Peter’s primary focus was at a much more important level. Every time I approached Peter with a technical or strategic issue, he would re-frame the challenge from 'what will I do?' to 'how will I be?'

"I have brought a whole new intention to work that has made me more effective. In my recent annual review, my boss wrote, 'I am very impressed with what you have learned and incorporated into your day-to-day job from the coaching experience.'

"Throughout this experience Peter was thoughtful, compassionate, and kind. He also constantly challenged me to do better and took no excuses. Working with Peter made me a better leader and manager, and—I really didn’t expect this part—I am as happy as ever going to work."

John Sanderson, Director of Conservation Science The Nature Conservancy, Colorado

2016-02-16T06:20:44+00:00

John Sanderson, Director of Conservation Science The Nature Conservancy, Colorado

“My six months of work with Peter were transformative. I expected to learn tools and techniques for leading my team. I did learn those things, but Peter’s primary focus was at a much more important level. Every time I approached Peter with a technical or strategic issue, he would re-frame the challenge from 'what will I do?' to 'how will I be?' "I have brought a whole new intention to work that has made me more effective. In my recent annual review, my boss wrote, 'I am very impressed with what you have learned and incorporated into your day-to-day job from the coaching experience.' "Throughout this experience Peter was thoughtful, compassionate, and kind. He also constantly challenged me to do better and took no excuses. Working with Peter made me a better leader and manager, and—I really didn’t expect this part—I am as happy as ever going to work."

Stephen McGhee, Founder, Stephen McGhee Leadership, Inc.

“Peter is a rare and powerful combination of heart and head. He has a unique and successful career in the field of investment banking and at the same time has the heart of a true and powerful leader. Peter is the “real deal” and I highly recommend his integrity, follow through, solution orientation and pure love of life.”

Stephen McGhee, Founder, Stephen McGhee Leadership, Inc.

2016-02-16T06:15:01+00:00

Stephen McGhee, Founder, Stephen McGhee Leadership, Inc.

“Peter is a rare and powerful combination of heart and head. He has a unique and successful career in the field of investment banking and at the same time has the heart of a true and powerful leader. Peter is the “real deal” and I highly recommend his integrity, follow through, solution orientation and pure love of life.”

Jon Kinning, EVP/COO, RK Mechanical, Inc., Denver, CO

“Peter is an outstanding executive and leadership coach. His coaching is a perfect blend of heart, insight and action. During the six-plus month period that I worked with Peter, he routinely exceeded my expectations. Not only did he help to uncover blind spots in my leadership behavior, he worked with me firmly and effectively to change negative behaviors.

“Several of my senior team members have noted the positive changes in my leadership since working with Peter. I highly recommend working with him to any high achiever who is committed to substantially improving their leadership and achieving their business and personal goals.”

Jon Kinning, EVP/COO, RK Mechanical, Inc., Denver, CO

2016-02-16T06:10:09+00:00

Jon Kinning, EVP/COO, RK Mechanical, Inc., Denver, CO

“Peter is an outstanding executive and leadership coach. His coaching is a perfect blend of heart, insight and action. During the six-plus month period that I worked with Peter, he routinely exceeded my expectations. Not only did he help to uncover blind spots in my leadership behavior, he worked with me firmly and effectively to change negative behaviors. “Several of my senior team members have noted the positive changes in my leadership since working with Peter. I highly recommend working with him to any high achiever who is committed to substantially improving their leadership and achieving their business and personal goals.”

Managing Director – $40+ Billion Private Equity Firm, New England

"I have had a great experience working with Peter. He pushed me to go outside my comfort zone and made me accountable for my progress and achieving my goals. I feel energized after each meeting. He is enthusiastic in his approach and brings it every day. Deciding to work with Peter has been one of the best business decisions I ever made.”

Managing Director – $40+ Billion Private Equity Firm, New England

2016-02-02T22:59:38+00:00

Managing Director – $40+ Billion Private Equity Firm, New England

"I have had a great experience working with Peter. He pushed me to go outside my comfort zone and made me accountable for my progress and achieving my goals. I feel energized after each meeting. He is enthusiastic in his approach and brings it every day. Deciding to work with Peter has been one of the best business decisions I ever made.”

http://peterfeer.com/testimonials/managing-director-new-england/

Managing Director – $10+B Private Equity Firm, San Francisco, CA

"Peter is an excellent executive coach who understand the life of the financial services executive, having been a senior investment banker for many years. He can contextualize his coaching for maximum effectiveness and it doesn’t take long to build rapport with him. I would highly recommend Peter for any financial professional seeking to work with an executive coach."

Managing Director – $10+B Private Equity Firm, San Francisco, CA

2016-02-02T22:57:33+00:00

Managing Director – $10+B Private Equity Firm, San Francisco, CA

"Peter is an excellent executive coach who understand the life of the financial services executive, having been a senior investment banker for many years. He can contextualize his coaching for maximum effectiveness and it doesn’t take long to build rapport with him. I would highly recommend Peter for any financial professional seeking to work with an executive coach."

http://peterfeer.com/testimonials/managing-director-san-francisco/

Managing Partner, International Law Firm

"Peter is an invaluable resource because he asks the questions that help me to keep the issues with which I am constantly bombarded in perspective, which in turn allows me to focus on those most appropriate for my attention."

Managing Partner, International Law Firm, Denver, CO

2015-10-15T19:45:16+00:00

Managing Partner, International Law Firm, Denver, CO

"Peter is an invaluable resource because he asks the questions that help me to keep the issues with which I am constantly bombarded in perspective, which in turn allows me to focus on those most appropriate for my attention."

Russell Morris, VP Human Resources, The Conference Board

"Peter is a sharp, focused and well organized coach. Ours is not time wasted. His ears are finely tuned. He hears what I say even when I don't—or don't want to admit that I do. His straightforward but warm approach helps me stay on my path."

Russell Morris, VP Human Resources, The Conference Board

2015-10-15T19:38:46+00:00

Russell Morris, VP Human Resources, The Conference Board

"Peter is a sharp, focused and well organized coach. Ours is not time wasted. His ears are finely tuned. He hears what I say even when I don't—or don't want to admit that I do. His straightforward but warm approach helps me stay on my path."

Managing Director, Middle Market Private Equity Fund

“Peter helped me work through a career crisis. By using coaching techniques and assessment work, he helped me to efficiently diffuse the crisis and enabled me to think more productively about my career transition. This generated significant benefit for my firm and for me personally.

“Peter has significant domain expertise in the investment banking, private equity and hedge fund industries. We were able to move very quickly to the specifics of my career challenges. He did not need any background information about the structure of my industry and the career opportunities.”

Managing Director, Middle Market Private Equity Fund

2015-10-15T19:35:20+00:00

Managing Director, Middle Market Private Equity Fund

“Peter helped me work through a career crisis. By using coaching techniques and assessment work, he helped me to efficiently diffuse the crisis and enabled me to think more productively about my career transition. This generated significant benefit for my firm and for me personally. “Peter has significant domain expertise in the investment banking, private equity and hedge fund industries. We were able to move very quickly to the specifics of my career challenges. He did not need any background information about the structure of my industry and the career opportunities.”

Partner, Corporate Finance/M&A Law Firm

“Peter has helped me bring focus to my long-term career strategy, including identifying and working through both challenges and opportunities. His education, business experience and training make him an excellent executive coach with real world credibility.

“In addition to assisting my professional development, his coaching has enabled me to more effectively tackle the work/life balancing challenge that is endemic in business today.”

Partner, Corporate Finance/M&A
Law Firm Denver, CO

2015-10-14T22:18:05+00:00

Partner, Corporate Finance/M&A
Law Firm Denver, CO

“Peter has helped me bring focus to my long-term career strategy, including identifying and working through both challenges and opportunities. His education, business experience and training make him an excellent executive coach with real world credibility. “In addition to assisting my professional development, his coaching has enabled me to more effectively tackle the work/life balancing challenge that is endemic in business today.”

Partner, $1.7B Healthcare Venture Fund, New York, NY

“Peter was a huge help and support to me through a difficult career transition. In my new role, he continues to challenge my thinking, pushes me to set lofty business goals and coaches me on how to achieve them.

“His understanding of and insights into the complexities, demands and opportunities of my business and the challenging personalities frequently encountered has been invaluable to me as I establish new relationships.”

Partner, $1.7B Healthcare Venture Fund, New York, NY

2015-10-14T22:17:01+00:00

Partner, $1.7B Healthcare Venture Fund, New York, NY

“Peter was a huge help and support to me through a difficult career transition. In my new role, he continues to challenge my thinking, pushes me to set lofty business goals and coaches me on how to achieve them. “His understanding of and insights into the complexities, demands and opportunities of my business and the challenging personalities frequently encountered has been invaluable to me as I establish new relationships.”

Former Managing Director, BAML Investment Banking

"I found working with Peter to be incredibly helpful. He works with you to define objectives, creates discipline around considering the issues, asks probing, challenging questions and forces a game plan to achieve results.

“Peter exudes positive energy, he is upbeat, encouraging and a pleasure to work with."

Former Managing Director, BAML Investment Banking

2015-10-14T18:24:12+00:00

Former Managing Director, BAML Investment Banking

"I found working with Peter to be incredibly helpful. He works with you to define objectives, creates discipline around considering the issues, asks probing, challenging questions and forces a game plan to achieve results. “Peter exudes positive energy, he is upbeat, encouraging and a pleasure to work with."